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Saturday, 18 January 2014

Editorial: Hand Care

The basics of my hand care include lots and lots of hand cream. I'm not sure how I acquired so many but I have rounded them all up to show you. There are choices here for both budget and for those who wish to spend a little bit more, but I have been using all of these for months and they are very effective.

I pick up the L'Occitane hand creams (£8.00 for 30ml, L'Occitane) whenever they're free with Marie Claire (usually about twice a year) and got this tiny one in a gift set. They have quite a thick texture and take a little rubbing in but sink into your skin very quickly without leaving that greasy texture you sometimes get with hand creams. The OPI Avojuices (£2.25 for 30ml, OPI) smell amazing, especially Coconut Melon which is fruity and nutty, they are quite a liquidy texture which rubs in incredibly quickly and you need very very little to get an effect. I sometimes use these as facial moisturiser if I'm travelling or don't have one to hand. The final one I have here is Dirty Works Hand Cream(£1.20 for 50ml, Sainsburys), this has more of a traditional hand cream smell and again rubs in very quickly leaving little to no residue. My problem with the majority of cheap hand creams is the greasy feeling of your hands but these three are all excellent

Lets talk cuticles; my number one choice in the cuticle balm category is Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter (£6.50 for 50ml, Lush) and the pot is so huge that I haven't bought a different one to try. I decanted a little into this smaller pot which is very convenient for everyday use. Honestly I would buy one pot between a few people and all decant some because it would take years to get through this if you only use it on your cuticles. This is more of a greasy product but it actually is much nicer to use when it's cold, if the temperature is high where you live I would keep it in the fridge to use.

Finally we come to oils and treatments. I have two different oils that I use, one is actually a face oil but works perfectly well on cuticles if I have accidentally dispensed too much. Sukin Rose Hip Oil (£11.17 for 25ml, Amazon.co.uk) is designated as a facial oil and is a nice dry oil, you need one drop to cover the back of your hand rubbed in and it doesn't leave any greasy residue. I think this smells a little weird but for the effect it has I'm willing to overlook that. OPI Avoplex (£7.50 for 15ml, amazon.co.uk) is a nail and cuticle oil with excellent effects, it quickly absorbs into the cuticle area but due to the nail polish style brush it is very easy to use to much, leaving more of an unpleasant residue but I much prefer the smell of this.
Having nice nails finishes off having nice looking hands. Now I don't mean having super long nails or even long nails, you should decided based on how your nails grow and how active you are with your hands how long you want your nails to be. A good nail strengthening treatment can help prevent nails from peeling and breaking. I am currently using OPI Nail Envy (£9.85 for 15ml, amazon.co.uk) which is great as a treatment and also works as a base coat so you can paint over the top of it. I have also used Save the Nail Repair and Rescue Base Coat (£7.50 for 10ml, Boots) and Essie Base Coat- Grow Stronger (£8.99 for 15ml, Boots) which I also like and found effective.
I hope this has been useful for anyone considering adding to (or starting) their hand care routine

Does the OPI Coconut and Melon smell very coconutty? Or more Melon-y? I really like Lemony Flutter too, nearing the end of my pot now so will have to get another one. It's really great on dry elbows too :p